Canaries and Macaws

After landing in Las Pegasus, Fluttershy realized that she hadn’t even asked what her sister looked like, or her adoptive parents for that matter. That led to the yellow pegasus knocking on every house and establishment door in sight, asking if they’d adopted a daughter from her mother. By the end of the day, Fluttershy stared down at the ground, her tail dragging through the clouds as she walked to the nearest hotel. Stopping at the hotel’s entrance, Fluttershy shook her mane with her wings, her blood running cold as no bits fell out of her mane.

I didn’t bring any bits!

Fluttershy shrieked as a bright red burst of magic exploded near her, coughing as the magic faded away, revealing a bright red gift box with blue ribbon and a note attached. Stepping forward, Fluttershy lifted the note in her hoof:

I said I’m always here for you, aren’t I?

Fluttershy opened the gift box, gasping as she saw a huge bag of bits as well as several pictures, papers, and an empty backpack. Lifting the closest picture to her, Fluttershy looked at the bright red filly with a white and black muzzle. Her tiny wings had specks of green and blue and the filly had a long red tail.

Is this my sister?

Fluttershy placed all of the box’s contents into the backpack, placing her wings in the backpack straps, and making her way to the hotel. Now that she had the picture and address of her sister’s adoptive parents, she knew just where her first stop would be in the morning.

After eating a complimentary pastry at the hotel, which only charged her half for a very spacious room where she could read the papers and view the pictures in full details, Fluttershy found herself at a small house. The hotel receptionist was gushing about how Fluttershy and her friends had saved Equestria over and over again, and the pegasus couldn’t help but wonder if she could’ve still landed a room without Discord’s gift. Perhaps, but who knows how many weeks it could’ve taken before even reaching the right neighborhood. Fluttershy shuddered at the thought, stepping closer to the red painted door and lifting her hoof up. Was she here? Did she move? Fluttershy closed her eyes shut and knocked on the door three times before waiting.

The door opened, revealing a black pegasus mare with white splotches and orange eyes, as well as a tall and burly orange pegasus stallion with bright red eyes. Fluttershy smiled, Bat Spots and Pumpkin, just the ponies she expected.

“Hello,” Fluttershy nodded. “I heard that you adopted my sister from a mare in Cloudsdale?”

Fluttershy saw Pumpkin flinch as he glanced in the direction of his living room, and Bat Spots didn’t even try to hide her scowl.

“We did,” Bat admitted. “Marceline was a great filly in our home, but she wasn’t getting her cutie mark like the other ponies at school. So, she gathered all her belongings and decided to fly away to the jungle.”

“She said that no one would bully her there,” Pumpkin added, his eyes meeting Fluttershy once more. “Did you want to come in?”

“I don’t think so,” Fluttershy shook her head. “Do you know which jungle? Have you ever seen her since?”

“She said there was one near White Tail Woods, and that she’d send letters,” Bat’s ears flattened as tears came to her eyes. “We come there every year, but we never find her. Haven’t received a single letter.”

So three ponies failed her.

“Thank you for your time,” Fluttershy nodded, turning away and taking to the sky before all the words she really wanted to say came out into the open. There was no time to waste as she flew back to the hotel room, retrieved her backpack, and thanked the hotel receptionist as she began to leave.

“Are you sure you want to fly out this late?” the receptionist asked. “The sun is starting to set, dear.”

“I’ll be okay,” Fluttershy smiled, bumping the door open with her butt as she stepped out. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

As Fluttershy landed in the unknown jungle area just as the sky turned into a darker shade of blue, she felt her heart beating fast. Sure, she had heard of these mysterious lands as a filly, but what creatures even resided here? Chirps, growls, and yowls filled her ears as she stepped forward, staring up at the trees that were taller than she’d ever seen. A small squeak escaped her mouth as she saw a silhouette of a creature lunge from one tree branch to another, before she shook her head.

What does it matter what kind of creatures live here? You’re an animal whisperer, act like it!

A break of several branches on the ground snapped Fluttershy out of her thoughts, as she nearly pissed herself as she stared at an orange feline with black spots and wide fangs.

“Oh, h-hello lovely kitty,” Fluttershy grinned as she waved her shaking hoof at him. “If you don’t mind, I’m just passing thro-”

The creature let out a loud roar, and before Fluttershy could use the Stare, the animal lunged at her. Fluttershy screamed, shielding her face with her hooves, only to feel nothing hurt her. Lowering her hooves back to the dirt, Fluttershy’s eyes widened as she saw a vine yank back the big jungle cat.

“Kevin!” a voice shouted in the darkness. “What did I tell you about not eating the tourists?”

The feline let out a grunt, shaking the vine off his neck as he briefly glanced at Fluttershy with a much softer expression.

“It’s okay,” Fluttershy smiled. “I know you were just surprised.”

The feline’s shoulders loosened up as he smiled at her, turning around and walking the opposite way, glancing at something in the darkness. Fluttershy didn’t have to wonder for long, as a slightly taller red mare with a white and black muzzle stepped out into the open, her deep blue eyes staring at her as she opened her wingspan, revealing the many green and blue dots decorating her wings. Fluttershy gasped as she held her hoof over her mouth, staring at the mare.

“Are you Marceline?” Fluttershy asked.

The red mare’s smirk and wings dropped as her mouth hung open.

“How would you know that?” the mare asked. “Oh Celestia, my parents didn’t send you here, did they?”

“Yes and no?” Fluttershy replied. “Mom told me she gave up a filly for adoption, and I went to your parents’ house for answers. They told me that you were here, and so here I am.”

“Wait,” Marceline asked, waving her hooves briefly. “We come from the same mother?”

“Looks like it,” Fluttershy felt her heart beating fast as the colors on Marceline’s pelt seemed to shine brighter with each second. “Hello, sister.”

Fluttershy’s rapid heart-beating became dizzying as Marceline continued to stare at her with her mouth hanging open. Fluttershy was about to break out into apology when Marceline grinned and lunged for her sister, the two mares tumbling in the various plants and mud.

“I have a sister!” Marceline grinned, pressing her muzzle against Fluttershy’s cheek. “I thought I’d be alone here forever, cause I didn’t want to go back to them. And I thought she’d forgotten all about me…”

The jungle noises took over the silence as Marceline looked away briefly, her jaw tightening before she smiled at her sister once more.

“But you’re here! And you exist!” Marceline squealed, tears coming to her eyes. “Oh I’m so sorry! This isn’t Canterlot, but I’m sure you’ll find something to love about my home!”

“Oh don’t worry, I’m used to wildlife,” Fluttershy adjusted her backside, revealing the three pink butterflies on her flank. Marceline gasped, getting up and revealing the three orange butterflies on her own flank.

“You’re just like me!” Marceline grinned, clapping her hooves. “Do you have your own jungle?”

“Oh no,” Fluttershy got up. “I have a sanctuary near my cottage outside of Ponyville, all the forest animals hang out there. Including my bunny, Angel.”

“Bunny?” Marceline tilted her head. “Oh I can’t believe it! Years in this jungle, and there’s still animals that I don’t know about. You must tell me more!”

“Oh don’t worry, I will,” Fluttershy nodded. “But have you had any ponies to talk to since you came here?”

“Well, tourists that have gotten themselves lost,” Marceline shrugged, turning around and opening up her wings. “But they’d never stay longer than a week. Let me get your backpack to my treehouse, we need to clean you up!”

Fluttershy blushed at the thought of those crimson hooves rubbing the mud off her wings, and willed said wings to stay by her side as she nodded and followed her sister as she flew further into the jungle.